Zev Porat

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

HASAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR FORT HOOD SHOOTING

(AP) Soldier sentenced to death for Fort Hood shootingBy MICHAEL GRACZYK and NOMAAN MERCHANTAssociated PressFORT HOOD, TexasA military jury on Wednesday sentenced Maj. Nidal Hasan to death for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, delivering the only punishment the Army believed fit for an attack on fellow unarmed soldiers. The sentence was one that Hasan also appeared to seek in a self-proclaimed effort to become a martyr.

The American-born Muslim, who has said he acted to protect Islamic insurgents abroad from American aggression, never denied killing 13 people at the Texas military base. In opening statements, he acknowledged that evidence would show he was the shooter and described himself as a soldier who had "switched sides."

The same jurors who convicted Hasan last week had just two options on Wednesday: either agree unanimously that Hasan should die or watch the 42-year-old get an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole.